"Brother Jingzong, in the middle of the night, where did you come back?"

"Zhenguan City", ten miles outside the south gate, a group of six black-clothed people stopped an old man who wanted to use the "earth escape" to enter the city.

"Who?"

It is clear that he has been observing the surroundings for a long time, and there is no abnormality before he wants to perform the "Earth Escape Technique", but he never thought that he would be drunk before he had time to cast the spell.

What's even more terrifying is that the person who came actually directly clicked his name, which made Xu Jingzong, who was a thief, a little uneasy.

That's right, this sneaked out of the "Zhenguan City" through the "Earth Escape", and now the one who has just returned after finishing the matter is Xu Jingzong, the military secretary of the army of Pharmacist Li's demon subduing army.

"Are you Li Yifu?"

When he saw the face of the person who came clearly, Xu Jingzong was also taken aback.

Li Yifu is a rare talent, and he can barely be regarded as such a number one person in Chang'an City.

In the eighth year of Zhenguan, he was recommended by Li Daliang, the patrol ambassador of Jiannan Province, as the provincial ceremonial ceremony because he was good at writing articles, and later he was recommended by Liu Xun, Ma Zhou and others, and was reappointed as the supervisor of the imperial history.

A few years ago, after being recommended by a friend, a rare opportunity to climb the high branch of Li Tai, the king of Wei, he was born in a small family, and since then he has completely established himself in Chang'an.

It's a pity that half a year ago, Li Tai, the king of Wei, lost his power, and he barely managed to protect himself, not to mention the old people who chanted together every day.

Although Li Yifu is a little talented, he is cold and has a loss of personal morality, and he is especially fond of yellow and white things.

The new emperor ascended the throne, even if Li Zhi had no intention of rectifying the friends of the Wei king's lineage, those ministers in the court who had the ability to see the price would naturally share the worries of the monarch's father.

Li Yifu is one of the unlucky guys, his butt was not very clean, and he was on the cusp of such a storm, so he became the first batch of people to be dismissed.

Xu Jingzong, as a Chinese scholar, has the ability to never forget, and clearly remembers that this Li Yifu has long been demoted out of Beijing, how can he appear here now?

"Haha, Yifu thought that Brother Jing Zong's promotion to the military secretary room, so he couldn't recognize the old brother of the younger brother, but I didn't expect you to be really the old person."

Li Yifu smiled "haha", and looked at the uncertain Zhongshu waiter in front of him with great interest, and his heart was also full of emotion.

Compared with Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu is more than 20 years younger than others, and he can be regarded as a complete junior, Xu Jingzong is one of the "eighteen bachelors" of Qin Wangfu back then, and his grandfather Li Yifu is just a county magistrate in Shehong County.

This huge gap in origin and experience, even if they are officials in the same dynasty, the two do not have much intersection, let alone a scene of "calling brothers and brothers" like now.

"Hmph, you, a person who has been dismissed by the imperial court, what qualifications do you have to call your official a brother and sister? The old man still has important things to do, so he doesn't have time to grind his teeth with you."

Xu Jingzong's trip was to act behind his back, and he was bumped into by this misbehaving Li Yifu, and his first thought was to kill people and kill his mouth.

It's a pity that when he glanced behind Li Yifu, he completely erased this idea.

Li Yifu and his party of six people, except for himself, the remaining five were covered with black scarves, and only two eyes were exposed.

As soon as four of them looked at their bodies and the weapons in their hands, they knew that it was not a good stubble, but the one in the middle, tall and tall, with dark clouds on his head, was actually a woman?

"Giggles, Lord Xu is such a great official, I don't know what will happen to you, the person who colluded with the demon clan and resold the intelligence of the Tang Army, was found out by Generalissimo Li?"

The tall woman in the middle walked over step by step, and before he came to Xu Jingzong, he felt that his mana was imprisoned, and he couldn't even move half a step on his feet.

"You...... Who are you? I don't know what you're talking about, so let the old man go."

The woman's voice was very good, like the cool breeze of a summer night, caressing the earth that had been scorched by the scorching sun for a day.

It's a pity that listening to Xu Jingzong's ears made him break out in a cold sweat in the weather in mid-July.

"It doesn't matter who the little girl is, what matters is what Lord Xu plans to do next? Continue to return to 'Zhenguan City' and do the internal response for the people of the demon clan? Or ......?"

The woman slowly approached Xu Jingzong, looking at the gray-haired old Xu, there was no trace of pity in her eyes, and even a little bit of banter.

"Or can you change your mind from now on and work for our Datang with this girl?"

Without making Xu Jingzong wait too long, the woman said the purpose of her trip.

She actually left Xu Jingzong a way back, or rather, is she simply not to blame for the past?

"Are you from the Tang Dynasty? Haha, don't take the old man for a fool, this Li Yifu is a villain who was dismissed by the Tang Dynasty, are you doing this to atone for him?"

Don't look at Xu Jingzong's mana being imprisoned, his brain is still spinning normally, and he doesn't believe a word at all about everything the woman in front of him said.

"Lord Xu, there are many ways to serve the Tang Dynasty, and with your old status and cultivation, I am afraid that many things will not be understood for a while."

"As far as this girl knows, it's because the demon clan's 'black-robed protector's Dharma Protector has kidnapped your most beloved grandson, that you are willing to work for them?"

"In this way, even if you betray Tang, it can be considered excusable. However, you probably wouldn't have thought that your white and chubby grandson would have become a snack for those demons......

Being asked and ridiculed by Xu Jingzong so ruthlessly, Li Yifu's face on the side was a little unbearable, but the woman was unmoved, and said with a straight look.

"No...... It's impossible, then' the black robe said, as long as they can completely annihilate the Tang army, they will let my grandson go, you wicked woman, you must be alarmist-"

Hearing this woman say that her grandson had suffered an accident, Xu Jingzong didn't care about his own cultivation being banned, and wanted to tear the woman in front of him like crazy.

It's a pity that in front of this tall masked woman, in front of this tall masked woman, it is like a mayfly shaking a tree, not to mention that it is still difficult to move an inch now.

"Is this girl being alarmist, and I should see it afterwards, I think from the beginning to now, Lord Xu has never seen your grandson's face, right?"

"The Northern Demon Clan has been defeated again and again, of course, because of the fierceness of the Tang Army, and the 'black-robed Great Protector shows the enemy weakness, and wants to gather and annihilate him, I'm afraid that's his real purpose, right?"

"This girl speculated, just now you went to meet the people of the demon clan, and informed the other party of the plan and troop allocation in Zhenguan City, the next step is to have a 'plan', right?"

The woman took three steps in front of Xu Jingzong, and asked one step at a time, Xu Jingzong couldn't hold on any longer, and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

......

"Wu Niangzi, if you let him go like this, will he listen to us honestly?"

The night breeze was blowing, and there were even unknown summer insects singing in a low voice, Li Yifu asked a little unwillingly, Xu Jingzong was no longer in the field.

"Li Yifu, 'You have tasted the taste of the heart-devouring lock yourself, do you think he Xu Jingzong is stronger than you?"

It turned out that this woman with a black scarf and a masked face turned out to be the Wuyue lady who once lived in the mansion of Li Tai, the king of Wei.

That is, in the mansion of Li Tai, the king of Wei, Li Yifu got acquainted with Wu Niangzi, and was immediately shocked and willingly drove for him.

"His grandson is dead, and with the ingenuity of the old man, he must have realized it, but he was just lucky and didn't want to believe it."

"This 'black robe' is really bold, and it actually fights the idea of 'capturing thieves and capturing kings?' It's also difficult for him, it seems that he is the only one in the Northern Demon Clan's 'Da Luo Jin Immortal here, but there are five Da Luo Jin Immortals in the Tang Army'."

From the mouth of Xu Jingzong

, Wu Niangzi got the plan of both the Tang Army and the Demon Clan, and it was very simple to say, neither side wanted to continue to consume, so they wanted to fight it out in "Zhenguan City".

However, what Wu Niangzi couldn't figure out was why the "black robe" of the demon clan thought that with his own strength, he would definitely be able to defeat the five "Great Luo Golden Immortals" in the Tang Army?

Could it be that he is so sure that he will capture Pharmacist Li and King Liang Li Ke in one fell swoop?

The question is, even if these two are captured, the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, as well as thousands of cultivators, will be willingly slaughtered?

Is the "black robe" too confident, or is this Xu Jingzong not telling the truth, or is Xu Jingzong also kept in the dark?

"Li Yifu, you are hiding here to monitor the two sides, once there is a new change, notify me immediately, if there is no other change in the past few days, you will go back to Chang'an first."

Li Yifu is a person who can be a little smart, or run errands, but when he encounters such a big scene, he is not qualified to be cannon fodder in his cultivation in the "foundation building" period.

Today's martial lady is already a cultivator in the middle stage of the "Taiyi Golden Immortal", and the four Buddhist Vajra wrestlers who are followed behind her all have the realm of the late stage or even the peak of the "Taiyi Golden Immortal" to act as her protector.

These four Vajra wrestlers also have a set of "Four Elephant Vajra Arrays", once they are put down, the power is more than ten times the combined combat power of the four people, which is comparable to a strong opponent in the "Da Luo Jin Xian".

"Since the plan of the black robe is to expel the people to attack the city from all sides, and then let the demons concentrate all their strength to attack the south gate, and he himself took the opportunity to forcibly break through the west gate."

"Then, I might as well follow behind the black robe, and act with the camera, and I, the late son-in-law of Ying Guogong, will also have a chance to serve the Tang Dynasty."

Wu Niangzi muttered to herself, but no one knew what she was thinking in her heart.

......

The anti-encirclement plan arranged by "Zhenguan City", from the perspective of high-end combat power alone, is actually relatively weak in the South Gate Lu Toro and West Gate Yuwen Jue.

The east gate is the wolf lord Yu Wenpo and the second elder Yu Wenqiu of the "Heavenly Wolf Mountain", and the two "Great Luo Golden Immortals" are responsible for the encirclement, and they are still led by the elite of the "Heavenly Wolf Mountain".

Although there is only one "Da Luo Golden Immortal" Indra in the north gate, it is a pity that this one is currently the strongest in the Tang camp, Yan Chixia, Su Dingfang and Hou Junji are not ordinary people.

It seems that this "black robe" still has some brains.

First, he used the four gates to expel the people to attack in unison to confuse their hearts; then concentrate the full combat power of the demons and attack the weakly protected south gate; Finally, he himself was able to take advantage of the chaos to attack Simon, who was also weakly defended.

If the south gate can't resist it, it is possible to transfer troops from other gates to help, so maybe the "black robe" plan is more secure.

Time flies, and three days pass in a flash.

As soon as it was dawn, the sound of a horn sounded on the "Zhenguan City".

The defense of "Zhenguan City" is mainly based on the Five Elements Protective Array, and according to the personnel structure in the city today, it is naturally Pharmacist Li who is in the center.

The Cheng brothers each brought 10,000 elite soldiers to guard the left and right wings, that is, the east and west gates, and the military advisor Xu Mao guarded the north gate in the rear formation, but Li Ke, the king of Liang, volunteered to personally lead the troops to guard the south city tower.

"His Royal Highness King Liang, no matter how the demon clan attacks, you must remember not to go out of the city to meet the enemy, guard this five-element protective array, except for the 'Da Luo Jin Immortal, other demon clans really need to work hard to break the formation-"

There was a horn sound from the city tower, which meant that the traces of the demon clan had been discovered, and Pharmacist Li had made the final arrangements, but he always felt that something was wrong?

The layout three days ago sent almost all the people above the level of "Xuan Immortal" in the city, and now the highest cultivation is actually the early stage of Pharmacist Li's "Taiyi Golden Immortal".

Yes, the early stage of the "Taiyi Golden Immortal" was the true cultivation realm of Pharmacist Li.

It's just that there were no decent cultivators in the entire Datang before, and Pharmacist Li, as the "god of war" of the Datang, has always controlled the strength he has shown

That's just the maximum.

Like today's Tang Dynasty, the Taiyi Realm is no longer a rare thing, and even there are so many "Da Luo Jin Immortals", and Pharmacist Li finally no longer needs to hide his strength.

His deity in the Heavenly Court was only barely stepping into the "Great Luo Golden Immortal", relying on nothing more than the Heavenly King's fruit position and the "Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda" in his hand.

"Don't worry, now that there is a Medicine Master, and there are so many strange people and strange people, this 'Zhenguan City is as solid as gold!'

No wonder Li Ke is so confident, it is really magical for "Zhenguan City" to lay down this Five Elements Protective Array, it is a whole in itself, no matter which corner you attack, it is like attacking the entire Five Elements Array.

And what is needed to maintain the formation is not only the mutual restraint between the five elements, but also the blessing of the cultivation of the person who presides over it internally.

Of course, as a border city, "Zhenguan City" was built with the enemy's strong attack in mind, so this five-element protective array can gather the strength of all the defenders in the city and jointly bless the five-element array.

For example, now, there are more than 20,000 garrisons in "Zhenguan City", and then 30,000 demon subduing troops brought by Li Yaoshi, a total of more than 50,000 troops.

These 50,000 people, even if they only have the strength of the acquired martial artists on average, are strong enough when combined, not to mention the five main generals of the protective array.

"Your Royal Highness King Liang, look, this ...... Are these my people of the Tang Dynasty?"

On the wall of the south gate, Li Ke stood with a knife and saw a large group of people coming from a distance, at least 30,000.

These people, men, women, and children, can even be seen carrying burdens and driving livestock, where is this fighting, obviously wanting to go into the city to beg for a living.

Li Ke's brows furrowed, and he looked left and right with enough eyesight, and sure enough, outside the east and west gates in the distance, tens of thousands of people also appeared.

"Driving people to attack the city? Damn—"

Li Ke smashed his fist on the city wall, such a bad behavior, he hated it so much that the roots of his teeth itched.

But what can he do?

"Your Royal Highness King Liang, these people seem to have lost their minds, you see, there are those who fell to the ground, and they don't know how to get up, so the others directly stepped on it?"

In order to defend against foreign enemies, it is naturally impossible to be unprepared outside the "Zhenguan City", and there are also a lot of things for water and fire.

It's a pity that these preparations can only deal with ordinary enemies, and as for dealing with demons, they are much worse.

"His Royal Highness King Liang, what should I do? These people have already rushed over—"

Sure enough, the people, who had been walking slowly, suddenly rushed towards the city gate as if they had received some order.

The people were originally just ordinary flesh and blood, but they couldn't stand the number of people.

There seemed to be no shortage of strong people among them, and in an instant, rows of antlers were overturned, and in the blink of an eye, someone rushed to the moat.

The moat was naturally filled with water, and the suspension bridge at this time had already been hung high, but what Li Ke didn't expect was that the moat, which was originally gurgling, was frozen into a glacier in an instant?

"Oh no, there are demons hidden among these people—"

Li Ke shouted, and the other soldiers naturally saw it.

"Your Highness, give the order to attack quickly, or they will be in trouble when they get to the city—"

Li Ke also has the realm of "Xuan Immortal", but unfortunately, he can't see who is a demon and who is a normal person among the more than 30,000 people in the city.

Besides, are there any normal people? What is the difference between the more than 30,000 people who have been controlled by the demons and the puppets of the walking dead?

"Shoot the arrows, but whoever dodges the bow and arrow, the eight oxen crossbow will wait—"

Now is not the time to talk about mercy, for the sake of the more than 30,000 people under the city who have lost their hearts, do you ignore the lives and deaths of more than a million people in the "Zhenguan City"?

Don't say it's him Li Ke, it's a person who knows how to choose.

However, how could it be that there were only 30,000 people, and the number of people who were driven away reached 200,000.

Zhenguan City" rained arrows, and "Zhenguan City" was full of blood.

"Haha, the blood of the human race can only cast more people of my demon race, let's be reborn, 'The Heavenless Buddha bestowed the soul of the demon race on the highest level——"

A huge black phantom in the sky, waving a black staff in his hand, saw that the people who had been killed by bows and arrows actually stood up strongly?

"This ...... What's going on? Is it because the unjust soul has come back to ask for his life?"

Li Ke is a "Xuan Immortal" cultivator, so he naturally won't be afraid of these.

However, most of the soldiers in the Tang Army are still flesh and blood in the acquired realm, and some of them have not even reached the "Ming Jin", but they are just ordinary strong people.

Where have they ever seen such a scene, and some of them can't even hold their weapons steadily.

"Silence - calm down, don't be frightened by the illusion of the demons, this is not some unjust soul to ask for your life, but a trick made by the demon thieves."

"Let go of the wood thunder stone and the fire to cook oil, this king will see if these puppets can be crushed into powder and burned to the ground, and they will not be able to stand up again—"

Li Ke was also ruthless, and even shook the "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife" in his hand, and slashed at the "Zhenguan City" layer by layer.

The Dingtang knife in Li Ke's hand, but after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he specially asked his father for it, and then sent it to Li Ke with the army of Li Yaoshi.

Li Zhi said, "I hope that the third brother can hold this sword, make meritorious contributions to the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, and set the Tang Dynasty for hundreds of millions of people!"

This Dingtang knife has also followed Li Shimin for many years, and it was given by Li Yuan, who was then the Duke of Tang Guogong, when he first went to the battlefield.

It's a pity that Li Shimin prefers the horse lance, and the symbolism of this Dingtang knife is greater.

Since discovering that even the jade seal of the heirloom country is an acquired merit spiritual treasure, Li Zhi has thoroughly searched the arsenal in the palace, including his father's private treasure vault.

Don't say it, he really found a few good things, and this "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife" is one of them.

The high-level magic weapon did not enter the acquired spirit treasure level, but it can be regarded as a rare weapon.

The key is that this Dingtang knife, used in front of the three armies, actually has the characteristics of boosting morale, so that Li Zhi, who has always been pragmatic, can't let it be buried in the arsenal.

According to Li Ke's idea, as long as the more than 30,000 people who have lost their nature in the city are completely shattered, they will no longer pose a threat to the city.

How easy it is to say that! Someone had already climbed the city wall with their bare hands, but they were shot down by the magic circle that had been pre-laid on the wall.

At this time, hundreds of demon people hidden among the people began to make trouble.

Either sweep the arrows that fall on the battlefield and shoot them backward at the tower, or throw a large number of people directly onto the tower, or use spells to start attacking the city walls and gates.

In this way, Li Ke suddenly became in a hurry, and hurriedly withdrew the ordinary soldiers on the city tower, or retreated to the back to operate the bow and arrow, and those in front of the queue were all replaced by cultivators.

It's better to put aside those people who have lost their nature, some of them are mixed with people from the demon clan from time to time, they pretend to be human races, and when they are above the city, they suddenly launch an attack, which makes people unguardable.

"His Royal Highness King Liang, it seems that the number of people in the demon clan is slowly increasing?"

The battle had only been going on for more than an hour, and the 10,000 defenders stationed at the south gate had nearly 2,000 casualties.

Li Ke looked at it, didn't he?

On the current southern city wall, there are already several people in the demon clan who are killing and killing, each with a strange-shaped blade, the key is that the cultivation of these people seems to be above him Li Ke.

It's just that as soon as they fall into the South City Tower, these people are restricted by the Five Elements Protective Array, and not to mention that their cultivation is suppressed, there will be flames and yin winds from time to time.

or from the soles of the feet, or from the door, or from behind......

The Tang army was single-minded

, but these demons have to deal with such and such changes, which greatly reduces the effect of their attacks.

But even so, it was only a matter of time before ordinary soldiers, even some generals in the "Jindan", "Yuanying", and "Tribulation" periods, encountered such demon casualties.

Only Li Ke's cultivation in the middle of the "Xuan Immortal" was barely able to defeat a "Golden Immortal" demon with the help of the "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife".

"Quick, let Generalissimo Li quickly reinforce the boys, the sons and daughters of the Tang Dynasty, meet the brave in a narrow way, and together with this king, kill all these demon beasts——"

One general uses his life, and all three armies are brave, not to mention that Li Ke is the prince of a country!

The "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife" in his hand is better than Li Shimin, who galloped on the battlefield back then.

"Tang Tong is going crazy, grandpa is here to take your life-"

At this moment, more than 100 demon clans rushed up from the city, they had already removed the disguise of the people, and the leader was actually a strong man at the peak of the "Taiyi Xuan Immortal".

Of course, Li Ke couldn't see the other party's cultivation, but someone came to kill several Tang lieutenants one by one, and the distressed Li Ke pumped straight away.

"Thief, take your life—"

It can be regarded as an ignorant person who is fearless, if Li Ke really knows that he is swinging his sword to a strong man at the peak of the "Taiyi Xuan Immortal" who is more than two realms higher than him, I don't know how our Royal Highness the King of Liang will feel?

"Haha, it's good to come, looking at your outfit, it should be Li Ke, the king of Liang, right?" The black-robed Great Protector spoke, take you back alive, you can change your cultivation for three hundred years, and your grandfather will be able to break through to 'Taiyi Golden Immortal' in one fell swoop, tsk-tut-"

Well, in the eyes of this demon leader, where is this Li Ke still a person, it is clearly a great tonic that breaks through the realm.

"Hmph, if you want to take down this king, it depends on whether you have that life—"

With the "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife" in hand, although Li Ke used it for the first time, the more he fought, the more courageous he became, and the effect of years of cultivating the "Body Technique" also appeared.

The momentum is strong and heavy, the knife technique is exquisite, and every move and style is secretly in line with the king's spirit, as if there are golden dragons around?

This is what Li Zhi did.

Since the third brother Li Ke really assisted him, he was a blood brother in the end, and Li Zhiyan could not take into account the safety of the third brother who was far away in the north.

On top of this "Dragon Head and Phoenix Tail Dingtang Knife", Li Zhi personally grabbed a trace of national fortune from the golden dragon of national fortune.

With the blessing of the national fortune, even if Li Ke is completely annihilated, he will retain a trace of his soul and return to Chang'an with this trace of national fortune.

Of course, if you live well, then the role of this national fortune is to bless this Dingtang knife, and if you use it well, you can even play the power of the acquired spirit treasure level.

On the other hand, the demon clan at the peak realm of "Taiyi Xuan Immortal" was first affected by the Five Elements Protective Array, and the real-time combat power was directly discounted, and then he wanted to take Li Ke alive.

......

What Li Ke didn't know was that the offensive and defensive battles of the other three gates were much grander than his Nancheng Tower, and the number of people besieging the city was more than twice as large as his side.

In fact, the South City Gate was regarded as the main direction of attack, and about two thousand demons came one after another.

In the other three gates, there were about two hundred demons each, mixed in the crowd, each driving fifty or sixty thousand Terran people, and launching an unhurried attack on the three gates.

Soon, the news that Li Ke, the king of Liang, was stationed in the South City Tower, was spread, and the demons who attacked the city at the east and west gates each divided more than 10,000 people to fight at the south city gate, and there was a great tendency to take the south city gate in one fell swoop?

At this time, the siege battle has been going on for nearly three hours, and the fight between the two sides seems to have reached a limit?

It's just a little weird that just outside the south gate where Li Ke is stationed, there are obviously more than a thousand demons, but they are only standing there driving the people forward, are their combat strength not as good as the 20,000 people?

"Martial Lady,

We have already lost the trace of the 'black robe', and among the demons outside the southern city gate, the most powerful ones are only five 'Taiyi Golden Immortal Late Stage'."

"If those 'Da Luo Jin Immortal Masters ambushed by the Tang Dynasty come together, I'm afraid that none of these demons will really be able to leave-"

At this time, in the high sky, Wu Niangzi was hiding in the clouds and mist with her four protectors, King Kong.

Fortunately, she has the secret spiritual treasure "Fuyunpa" with her, otherwise at such a close distance, there is a possibility that the "Da Luo Jin Immortal" will appear at any time, and the five of them will have nothing to hide.

"Senior Brother Ah Lai is too optimistic, now that the 'black-robed Great Protector has not yet appeared, and those masters of the Tang Dynasty have not yet appeared, half of the siege forces have been concentrated at the South City Gate, and the purpose is to capture Li Ke, the king of Liang, alive."

"However, if the more than 1,000 demon clans outside the South City Gate exert their strength at the same time, it is entirely possible to take the South Gate before the Tang reinforcements arrive."

"So, what are the demons waiting for? Could it be that their purpose is not Li Ke, the king of Liang, at all?"

The sun is shining, and the unique dryness of the north seems to be burning even the blood of the head of "Zhenguan City", but the merciless killing continues.

Because, if you don't continue to wield the sword, it is likely that you will die the next moment.

The martial lady, who has always prided herself on being smart, couldn't figure out the mystery for a while, so she could only continue to hide in the clouds and mist, waiting patiently......